A Couple Days in Nairobi

We were met at the airport by our very dear friends David Houston Shihemi and John Mwambuso Kapombe (left to right in the photo), and came directly to our hotel in downtown Nairobi. We like the places David selects for us because they are frequented by Kenyans, other Africans, and "mzungu", other Caucasian travelers like ourselves. The food is African and British and the buildings are open-air, and our hearts are at home here.

Yesterday we took a trip out of town to a place called Paradise Lost where the MauMau people lived for 10 years in caves behind a waterfall during their rebellion against the British.

The place surrounding is now a Kenyan-owned coffee plantation that we toured as well. The environment is an unsettling mix of the spirits of dark, brutal colonial history and pleasant bucolic setting. And then there is the modern world encroaching on the long past. It was all very interesting, and reminded Ken and I of all the time we spent with my sister Gail in Alaska when she was roasting her own coffee. The time change was still weighing us down, and we were so tired that the fresh roasted, ground, and brewed coffee at the plantation was a welcome, if short-lived, jolt of energy.

Mwambuso is our constant companion and has grown into a very mature and serious (but funny) young man. We met David's wife Nancy for dinner and then were stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam driving back into the city. Today we are leaving for a few days in the Rift Valley, and quite anxious to leave the hustle and bustle of the city.

P.S.

My father corrected my spelling of the airport in Amsterdam - Schipol with a C! Thanks, Dad...always the teacher.